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32 Security Dealer & Integrator / www. SecurityInfoWatch.com October 2018
I
f 20 years ago you asked a
security practitioner or inte-
grator about using IP-based
networks and megapixel cam-
eras, the response was proba-
bly a laugh and a shrug of the shoul-
ders. Everyone was happy with CCTV
systems. Analog was king. Business
was good.
But as we know – even in an indus-
try as conservative as security – the
technology beat rolls on. Today,
megapixel video is a backbone and
has even given way to 4K, a consum-
er-based technology. H.264 has paved
the way for H.265 and superior band-
width management. One-time stal-
warts like plain old telephone service
(POTS) lines and 2G are simply things
of the past.
Now, 5G seems
like the peak of the
mountain. And
while 5G is simply a
dream for tomorrow
in security applica-
tions, it is paving
the way for inno-
vation in hundreds
of industries. But
before we decide if
the security indus-
try will join bleed-
ing-edge markets like self-driving cars
and virtual reality with 5G, there is
another sunset on the horizon.
CDMA Coming to an End
According to Statista, smartphone
penetration in the United States is
nearly 70 percent, with that num-
ber expected to increase to around
73 percent by 2021. A 70-percent
smartphone adoption rate represents
a 200-percent increase over just the
last seven years.
"at growth and opportunity has
driven the need for phone carriers to
increase network speed and capacity –
2G, 3G and so forth, up to LTE today,"
explains Jorge Hevia, SVP of Sales for
Napco Security Technologies. "For the
alarm business, that has meant some
equipment upgrades, as Telcos sunset-
ted older networks. Unlike POTS lines
that were seemingly always there for
alarm dealers, the security industry
now has to keep up with very dynamic,
data-hungry cellular technology to
keep reporting alarms."
Alarm dealers got a first-hand look
at the impact of these transitions with
the recent 2G sunset. "While we all
routinely expect to upgrade our cell-
phones, it comes as a surprise when
we have to do that with cellular alarm
communications too," Hevia says. "It
is a necessary part of being in the dig-
ital age, but with that cellular evolu-
tion, the alarm industry has far greater
opportunity to create new RMR, new
consumption adoption and new needs-
based vitality for our services."
While it represents the top of the
mountain in communications
technology, the industry must
deal with another sunset before
reaching the summit By Paul Rothman
Is the Future
Cover Story
Verizon describes 5G as "one of the
fastest, most robust technologies
the world has ever seen."
? 5G
Photo:
Verizon